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Off-duty Texas officer kills gunman after fatal shooting

DALLAS - Two people were shot and killed in Far North Dallas, Texas Wednesday morning – one of them was killed by a police officer.

Dallas Police Department spokesman Maj. Jeff Cotner said it all started around 12:40 a.m. in a gas station parking lot near the Wal-Mart on the Central Expressway. There was a disturbance and shots were fired. Immediately afterward, two cars fled the scene and one of them crashed in the the store's parking lot.

One man was found dead in the car that crashed.

An off-duty police officer who was leaving Wal-Mart at the time saw the crash and watched multiple people get out of the second car. He approached the group and announced his presence as an officer. The suspects then got back in the car and drove off.

The officer followed the suspects in his personal car. He stopped them at the Midpark exit and that's when he noticed one of the suspects was armed. Maj. Cotner said the officer told the gunman to drop his weapon. But instead of complying, the gunman took action that made the officer believe he was in imminent danger. The officer shot him.

The gunman got back into his vehicle and drove away again, finally stopping after crashing into parked vehicles at a nearby Denny's restaurant. He was pronounced dead at the scene and a firearm was recovered from his vehicle.

Police are now interviewing witnesses and the other people who were in the car. They will also review security video.

This is the fifth shooting involving a Dallas police officer so far this month.

On Monday a suspected kidnapper was shot and killed after he pointed a gun at officers. Last week police fired at an armed man while investigating a stolen truck. That man shot and killed himself. That same night an off-duty officer shot a man after witnessing a shooting.

And two weeks ago an off-duty officer shot and killed a man he said threatened a family.